


The Adventure of a Lifetime

by Crimisya



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I'll add more when it applies, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, My First Fanfic, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-01-27 11:07:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21391126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crimisya/pseuds/Crimisya
Summary: Vjona had just come from Dragonsreach, warning them about the dragon that had destroyed Helgen and being given a sort of quest to fetch a stone tablet, when she heard a couple of Imperials in the Bannered Mare talking. Of course talking a bit too much, with all that mead in their bellies. They talked of a prison that a recent captive had been taken to. Of course the Thalmor that had requested this man didn't give them much more detail than that besides a location of some sorts, but it was enough to investigate.Perhaps set an innocent man free ...
Relationships: Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Kaidan
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

Vjona decided to head out to that prison first before getting that stone tablet for Farengar, feeling like the life of a captive man was just a bit more important that some dusty old tablet that might not even help the Jarl or his court wizard with this dragon problem Skyrim was suddenly having.

She passed a little bandit camp on the way there, the degenerates holed up in the tower there demanding a toll. She made quick work with the one that was asking for coin before any of her friends cared to notice, and went on from there. She marked in her journal periodically along the road, taking note of odd landmarks and her thoughts. Apparently this prison was nestled in near the falls but ... that was absurd. Surely the place would have flooded by now, no?

Vjona, of course, stood corrected as she saw the entrance to what definitely looked like a prison on the other side of a shallow river.

It took little work to hop onto the protruding rocks coming up as a sort of makeshift pathway to the prison before she made her way down. Vjona had half a mind to turn on her lantern but ... if there were Thalmor in there, she knew she needed to be quiet. Very quiet. Luckily there only seemed to be one on duty. Strange but ... she put the poor bastard out quickly with a dagger to the throat.

After that it seemed ... relatively quiet. A little too quiet if you asked her, but she pressed on deeper into the dungeon. Cages were lined up on the sides, most of them empty. She wondered maybe if they all had escaped when she noticed ... a man. He hung from the bars his arms were trapped in, near limp and still bleeding from recent wounds it looked like. There was a key nearby on the table, left perfectly out in the open for her to grab and unlock his cell with. A frown curled upon her face as she neared, sifting through her bag to get out a potion of some sort for him when ...

"When I get out of here, I'll kill you all myself ..."

Vjona's eyes widened a bit at the sudden, albeit weak, outburst, the man clearly not looking up at her to see who she was. A scowl formed on her face and she dipped down to where he could see her. "As you can see, I'm not who you want to kill," she retorted, crossing her arms, having abandoned her search for a healing potion for the time being.

The bleeding man finally found his strength to look up at her, relief seemingly washing over his face as he saw for himself she was, indeed, no Thalmor. "You're ... not with the Thalmor, are you? Quick, get me free from here before more come."

Vjona arched a brow at how quickly his tune changed, but she wouldn't blame him much as she went to remove him from the metal shackles he hung from. She picked at the locks that kept him there, looking down at him briefly with icy eyes to speak to him again. "You have a name lad?" she asked, hissing as the pick broke and she moved to get another one.

There wasn't a response for awhile, but finally he spoke, "Kaidan ... my name is Kaidan."

One free. She felt his arm go limp on the side she had freed, and she moved to the other. "How did you end up here?" she then asked, trying to make ... some semblance of small talk as she attempted to free the poor man.

He let out a scoff. "The Thalmor invited me to high tea. What do you think?" His tone earned quite the harsh glare from the raven haired Nord, and he let out a defeated sigh. "I dunno. Some justicars ambushed me outside of Falkreath."

"There's got to be more to it than that," Vjona pushed, wanting to know why they dragged his rear end in there in the first place. Certainly didn't ... look Nord from what she could tell, and they were usually a target for the Thalmor.

"I'm choking on my own blood and you want my life story? Get me out of these shackles!"

Vjona let him drop with a thud to the ground as she freed his last remaining arm and handed him a potion of healing, crossing her arms. "You didn't have to get dramatic, I was just asking. That potion there should get rid of most of your wounds. Might leave some scarring though."

He sighed as he stood, taking the healing potion she had given to him and taking it down swiftly. Vjona watched as his wounds, as she said, began healing and closing away. Kaidan let out quite the sigh of relief and offered something of a smile to Vjona.

"You're a lifesaver, thank you ..." He managed to get a good stretch out on his limbs before they relaxed at his sides.

Now that he was standing in front of her, there were features he had that ... puzzled her. She could almost consider him half mer but ... no that wasn't quite right either, especially not with those crimson eyes he had. She mentally shook her head, as it wasn't the time to ponder over his race.

"You're welcome," she told him as she looked back where she came. "We should probably get go-"

"Wait!" Vjona arched a brow at his outburst.

"I ... shouldn't ask you of this, not after what you've done already but ... one of the Thalmor got his hands on my sword and I could use your help in getting it back."

Vjona crossed her arms and arched her brow. "All right well ... where did he go? Do you remember?"

He motioned to the large hole in the wall that lead into his cell. "Deeper into the prison, and with luck, he's cornered like a rat."

With a quick nod, Vjona headed through the hole in the wall to where the Thalmor most likely was. A smirk crossed her face as she saw him snoozing on the bed he had for himself, and made quick work with him by shoving her dagger into his throat. Oddly enough, the bastard still had the sword he took from Kaidan, but it certainly didn't hinder her from taking it back and handing it over. The next thing she saw was a large chest in the corner. Seeing as how Kaidan probably hadn't come in there looking like that, she could only guess that his belongings were in there.

And sure enough, they were.

"Are these yours Kaidan?" she asked as he was inspecting his sword to make sure no damages were done to the blade. His crimson eyes looked over the trunk, a spark of familiarity shooting through them before he made his way over. His smile couldn't have gotten any brighter.

"Aye, thank you. This has been my second skin for years ... glad to have it back." Kaidan didn't take long to shimmy his way back into his gear, Vjona silently impressed with the speed of getting heavy armour back onto his body. 

A smile crossed her features as he appeared more prepared to take down trolls and giants in that armour. He also grabbed a war bow and steel arrows ... something she didn't assume right away to be his. "Let's get out of here, then," she finally said after he was done equipping his gear, the duo making their way back through the prison and outside again.

It was still high noon when they left that dreary place, and they both seemed to simultaneously breathe in a breath of fresh air, before Kaidan's voice cut the silence that they shared.

"I never caught your name, you know."

She chuckled. "Vjona Snow-Root," she told him, looking well up at him as she crossed her arms in front of her. "Well met, Kaidan. I suppose this is where we part ways, no?"

Kaidan's brows furrowed a bit in thought. "Actually, I'd like to tag along with you for a little bit," he began, getting a rather surprised and ... honestly confused look from the Nord. "I owe you a debt for my life, and I'm not a man that's comfortable being in debt." Kaidan looked down to her with a serious gaze about his crimson eyes. "So ... I'd like to repay that debt by helping you in your travels, if you'd like."

There was a moment of silence from her as she thought, her gloved hand rubbing under her chin as she looked him over. "Mm ... I don't normally let others tag along with me ..." she began, almost seeing him slump his shoulders in a prepared defeat. However, she shrugged her shoulders. "But I understand your reasoning, and I suppose I could use a strong sort for the more ... daunting of tasks, so to speak." Vjona let out a chuckle at that.

Kaidan smiled. "Great. So ... where to first?"

She took out her map to show him the small marker she had placed. "Bleak Falls Barrow."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Find out a little more about our hero, and get into the mind of our hero's companion for a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo another chapter! Much happier with this one. Also: I'm so happy for the kudos I'm getting! Thank you guys so much :D I'll definitely be posting more of these two in the future~

It took them almost the rest of the day to reach Riverwood again, Vjona deciding to completely skip Whiterun for the time being just to get a bit closer to their goal. Well ... her goal, really. During their walk, Kaidan would make small comments here and there, but nothing overly significant or really worth anything of note. They didn't really start talking until they entered the Sleeping Giant Inn, about an hour or so passed dark.

As they stepped in, Vjona took a glance behind her. "We can rest here for the night before we head out," she told him, a soft smile forming on his features as he headed further inside.

"Seems like a good place to rest our feet," he would say before finding a spot at one of the tables off to the side to sit down at. Vjona, on the other hand, made her way over to Orgnar, the inn's grumpy cook. A smile crossed her features even as he seemed to scowl forever.

"Where's Delphine?" she asked him, and he simply gave her a nod of his head off to the side into a closed room. Hm. Must've been busy then. Vjona shrugged. "All right, could I just get a couple venison stews and bottles of mead, then?"

"Yep, sure," Orgnar said in his usual ... well, grumpy tone. Vjona handed him the coin she owed, and moved back over to the table where Kaidan was sitting, his blade sprawled over the wooden board and examining it once more, his fingers tracing over some rather deep and ... almost deliberate looking scratches placed upon the blade. Vjona thought it looked familiar but ... she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

Kaidan's crimson gaze shot up as she sat down next to him, her own eyes taking a look over the blade once more before meeting his face again. "So, now that you're not choking on your own blood," she began, earning something of an amused scoff from the taller man, "mind telling me how you ended up in there? Or at least what little reason they thought they had." Her voice was kept to a generally low volume to avoid any unwanted suspicion. Luckily the majority of the village kept to themselves, and their noses, out of her business.

"Well ..." he started, pausing as he looked over the sword again in contemplation, "when I got there he kept asking about the Blades. Not ... sure why. I know the sword has something to do with it, though." Kaidan let out a gruff sigh and picked the blade back up, sliding it into its hilt on his back before finally settling to look at her again.

Vjona took a moment to think over what he had told her, in that time Orgnar had finally gotten around to their stews and placing them on the table, as well as a couple bottles of mead. How he managed to carry all of that, she'd never know. Finally, she spoke again.

"So, this sword is clearly important, apparently not just to you." The raven haired woman took a sip of her stew before continuing. "Who gave it to you, anyway?"

A soft chuckle escaped his mouth after he had a chance to take in some of the stew for himself. "It belonged to my mother, or so I was told," Kaidan admitted with a sort of uncertainty in his tone. "I came back here to dig up some of my past, this sword being the only clue to that. I guess I ended up in the right place, if they were so interested in it."

"Seems like a fair assumption." Vjona gave him a short shrug. "Who knows? Maybe we'll find out more about it."

He paused a moment, mid tilt of his stew. "Wait ... we?"

She chuckled. "I mean, I might as well help you. It sounds interesting, and I'm not one to turn down a good mystery."

\---

This woman was strange indeed. She'd help a random stranger she just met with a mystery she knew nothing about? While he was grateful it ... he couldn't help but feel just a little suspicious by it. Knock it up to old habits, he supposed. "Right," was all he could say for the moment, drinking in the venison broth before setting the wooden bowl back down. "Well ... if it interests you that much, I certainly won't turn away the help. You seem to know the place better than I do."

Or he assumed she did, anyway. Definitely talked to the folk around here like she did. Maybe this was a good thing, but he couldn't get attached to easily. Not to anyone ... but her knowledge of the area could prove useful to him, and he might as well take advantage of it while he was paying off his debt to her.

... however long that would take.

His answer to her seemed to make her happy, her smile growing just a bit wider on her face. He had to admit it was ... addicting almost, that smile. Warm, inviting. She could probably talk to anyone and they wouldn't feel an inch of doubt. He wasn't aware he was smiling back until she had looked away to finish her meal. Once she had, she spoke again.

"We'll get some rest for the night, and head out in the morning. Hopefully I won't have to deal with this any more than I have to," she admitted, which earned a curious brow raise from Kaidan.

"Why's that?" he asked, wondering why she didn't want to deal with something so fascinating. But he could almost see a shiver run up her spine, something he didn't expect to see of her.

A sigh escaped her after. "Bandits and whatnot are one thing, I can deal with those. But dragons? Especially after what I saw of Helgen?" Her voice seemed to sadden, and she shook her head. "I couldn't even save both of the men I found in the caves underneath Helgen's keep ..."

\---

It was a brutal memory for her. After moving through the carnage the dragon had brought down upon the poor town, and moving through the cave system underneath the keep, she found two men laying on the ground. Of course, she helped the closest one with a healing salve, a Stormcloak soldier by the name of Ralof. But the other ... before she could have gotten to him, a rock came crashing down on his weak body. Of course Ralof told her to not worry about it, but she couldn't help it. If she had been quick enough ...

Vjona shook her head, shaking away that memory. Of course, even without telling that story to him, she could see his sympathy. "I'm sorry," he told her, but she dismissed it with a small hand wave.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for, Kaidan," she reassured, her smile back on her face. "Why don't we ... get some sleep? I'm sure Delphine is out by now, we can get a couple rooms and meet back out here in the morning."

That was the end of their conversation, at least for that evening. No doubt they'd be talking a lot more on the road. They managed to get their rooms and retire for the night, the morning holding promise for adventure and something ... neither of them would expect.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barrows, golden claws, and ancient Nordic walls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look another chapter. It is rare sometimes, but one gets posted sometimes. This one's a bit shorter, only because I'm writing all of this at work and, lo and behold, I can't find some of the dialogue references I need.
> 
> Because website blockers are a thing. Woo. Anyway, enjoy!

Bleak Falls Barrow ... Such a harrowing name wasn't it? These places were usually haunted by some manner of undead ... or occupied by bandits. This time around, unfortunately for our two daring heroes, it was both this time. They had managed to get through the bulk of it, taking out the bandits on the outside, then the two on the inside ... cut down the Dunmer that began running away with their key further into the barrow. And then watched a guy stupidly kill himself to an easy to see trap, which didn't take Vjona long to decipher what with the pictures of the puzzle literally right there.

Some skeevers and several draugr later, they made it to the door.

Vjona took the golden claw the Dunmer had on him and inspected it, making a small mental note in the future to return the thing to the Riverwood trader ... she swore she heard him say something about it when she was shopping for ingredients for different potions. There were ... images on the back, and when she looked up, they seemed to match the designs on the door.

"Hey Kaidan ..." Kaidan looked over with a small 'hmm?' escaping him, himself having been standing watch while the Nord looked over the claw, "mind helping me turn these discs? Looks like if we match the designs of the claw, it might open ..."

With the both of them spinning the stone pieces of the door, it didn't take long before it matched the back of the claw. She set its tips in the holes that were placed right below the designs, and gave it a twist. Heavy clicking broke the tense silence of the room, before the door began sliding down. What it revealed was a sort of ... underground cave forest, with a large stone wall with a sort of stone coffin ... kind of like the ones the draugr from earlier popped out of. As they neared it though, it didn't seem like anything was inside ... or it at least was trapped enough it wouldn't budge.

Kaidan began searching around, peaking inside of the chest that was set right next to it. "That stone tablet has to be here somewhere ..." he murmured, but it was almost unheard by the raven-haired woman as her eyes became ... incredibly fixated on the wall.

\---

He figured maybe she was heading to the wall to see if there was something written on it that was useful. About the dragonstone or ... maybe she was a scholar and wanted to try and read it? But when he looked up, she looked like she was under a spell, in a trance. He stopped his rummaging a moment, and slowly began walking to her as her hand met the stone of the wall, etched into using a language he knew he couldn't understand. She stood there, staring at the thing like it was speaking to her, and then ... nothing. She snapped out of it, shaking her head.

"Are you--"

Crash

They both whipped their heads around, the grumblings of a draugr echoing through the cavern as one immerged from the believed dormant coffin. Fuck. Vjona quickly drew her dagger, a spell of flames wrapping around her left hand, while Kaidan unsheathed his blade and charged.

This draugr was different than the rest, more powerful and durable too he noted as he slashed into it. It let out a bellowing shout that took him off his feet and onto his ass before Vjona managed to get the last hit in by shoving her Nordic dagger through its throat, the blue lights fading from its eyes and it falling limp onto the floor. She moved to check the coffin, and of course the stone tablet was in there as she pulled it out.

But that wasn't exactly on his mind.

"You ... are you all right?" he finally managed to get out as she tucked the stone underneath her arm, giving him an arched brow.

"... yes? Why?"

Kaidan blinked a moment. "You ... and that stone wall. You looked like you were in a trance before he popped out."

Vjona seemed to stand there for a moment, thinking about what he had said. "Oh ... I'm ... not sure how to explain it. You didn't ... hear voices or anything like that?"

He blinked at her. "Um ... no. Maybe these things are magical. I believe they were built to send messages to others ... maybe that's what happened?" Kaidan wasn't ... really sure himself. He was concerned for her, although he really shouldn't be. He shook his head after she simply gave him a shrug in response. "Well ... maybe Farengar knows more. Let's get that tablet back to him."

"Right, right ..." Vjona let out a breath and walked passed the warrior, who looked upon her with concerned crimson eyes, but he didn't say anything more and followed her up the stairs that lead to a hidden portion of the barrow, one that lead right outside.

Almost like it was meant for people to explore the dangerous parts first ...

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little fanfiction writing blurb I'll be writing into for this. If you have any suggestions or criticisms, leave them in the comments! And, of course, I hope you enjoy my first fanfic on this site~
> 
> Will also probably be editing this periodically because I can't make up my mind ever.


End file.
